Companies direct fraction of gross revenues to environmental projects. BY SCOTT SIMPSON, VANCOUVER SUN

They are the other “one per cent” group. They could be financiers, or even millionaires, but they could also be unicycle-propelled downhill racers, co-op members, micro-brewers, photographers, or operators of any kind of business that you could imagine.

They’re unified not by their privileged tax status but by their involvement in a 45-nation enterprise that sees members direct one per cent of gross revenues to environmental projects.

According to 1% for the Planet CEO Terry Kellogg, who was in Vancouver last week, businesses have been joining at a rate faster than one per day for the past four years, and “1% FTP” global membership now stands at 1,450.

Anchor members include Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op, Clif Bar energy food makers, Patagonia outdoor equipment manufacturers, and New Belgian Beer, a wind-powered brewery.

Membership is straightforward. You pay annual dues on a sliding scale. If your annual gross revenue is $100,000, dues are $200. The dues go to the operation and promotion of the program.

You contribute a further $800 to the environmental groups of your choice. Then, you can advertise yourself as a 1% for the Planet member.

Musician Jack Johnson was the 50th member, with his five-million-selling album In Between Dreams bearing the 1% FTP logo on its cover.

“People can look at the price of the item and know that one per cent is going to go to the causes [selected by] the organizations. It’s transparent, it’s verifiable, it’s legitimate and it’s very clear,” Kellogg said in an interview.

The program began in 2002, created by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and a fly-fishing buddy, Craig Mathews of Blue Ribbon Flies, and has since raised $100 million.

“Both of their companies, independently, had been giving one per cent of revenues to environmental causes,” Kellogg said. “They compared notes and said ‘This is actually helping our businesses, and if it’s helping our businesses maybe it will help others — and it’s obviously the right thing for the planet, so let’s do something to inspire more companies to step up.”

It was run as an internal project of Patagonia for the first couple of years and grew slowly, mostly by word of mouth, in geographic regions and industry circles.

MEC’s 2007 decision to climb on board was a big boost — three million people, nine per cent of the population of Canada, are members of the outdoor equipment cooperative and most of 1% FTP’s Canadian members joined after MEC’s decision.

Today, close to 10 per cent of all 1% FTP members are based in Canada — a proportionately huge market share that has convinced Kellogg there’s even more room for expansion here.

“They’ve made it feasible for us to come in and do our own work to further grow the movement.”

Kellogg sees other trends working in their favour.

“One of them you can see evidenced in these Occupy movements. There are people looking for a different way of doing business. That’s from the customer side but it’s also from the side of the business owner.”

Thao Pham, director of community for Clif Bar & Company, said preservation of “wild places” is fundamental to the California-based company’s corporate values.

“1% for the Planet is widely recognized as the gold standard of environmental philanthropy, in part because giving is based on one per cent of sales [revenue] rather than profits, so it reflects a resolution to giving back that’s truly integrated into a company — the commitment won’t change in good times or bad,” Pham said in an email.

Conservation projects supported by Clif encompass rock climbing, whitewater paddling, mountain biking and snow sports.

The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is one of the primary beneficiaries of MEC’s involvement in 1% FTP.

Sabine Jessen, national manager of oceans and great freshwater lakes for CPAWS, likes the simplicity.

“It’s totally up to the companies, who they want to support — and the particular project.

“There might be a discussion or they might just send you a check for you to use for the good work you do,” Jessen said. “We have so many common goals with MEC. So for us it has worked really well.”

Esther Speck, director of sustainability and community for MEC said the co-op is “acutely aware” of the environmental impact of its enterprise.

“Everything we make, sell or do has an impact, so we want to do our part to contribute to a sustainable future,” Speck said.

She said 1% FTP is “a great brand fit and it helps us express our commitment to the environment and outdoor communities through a simple message.”

ssimpson@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/This+cent+group+explicit+agenda/5595206/story.html#ixzz1buAwKgUt

I am happy to report another day of peace at the cove. No blood was shed in these waters today. In fact, since Sept 7, the day they slaughtered the first pod of Risso’s dolphins — there has been no killing. They did capture of a large pod of bottlenose a few days ago, but they pulled one dolphin out for captivity and set the rest of the pod free. But the lack of killing around here is not for a lack of trying, the dolphin hunters have been going out every day except one when the weather would not allow it. They have been chasing pods each day, but day after day, the pods have either escaped or they have been unable to locate a pod at all.

I have settled into a routine here. Every morning my alarm goes off at 430am, I brush my teeth, grab a coffee, put my hair in a ponytail and I’m out the door by 445am. I meet the dolphin hunters at the Taiji Harbor at 5am. I use the word “meet” loosely. I sit in my rental car in a parking lot across the dock from the Taiji Fishermen’s Union and watch from afar as they have their morning meeting filled with cigarettes before they set out to sea in their boats to search for dolphins.

The police meet me there every day as well. They know me quite well by now, as I do them. I even know one particular English speaking policemen’s shift schedule. And they know my schedule as well. That’s when you know you’ve spent some serious time in Taiji. One of the most amusing moments of this trip was when the police pulled me over for the first time (for not using my blinker) and as they walked away said “Welcome back.” That’s when you know you are a regular in Taiji! We are even starting to have deeper conversations with each other, thanks to their good English (I’m working on my Japanese). A couple days ago, one of the policemen asked me, “Do you fight for other animals, or just dolphins?” so when I got back to my hotel, I made this video:

The more time I spend here, the more I am in awe of the beauty of this place and the more I can see the potential of what it could be without the horrific dolphin slaughter. If only they would turn these dolphin hunting boats into dolphin watching boats — like Izumi Ishii-san, a dolphin hunter in Futo who had an epiphany years ago when a dolphin he was killing looked into his eyes. Ishii-san immediately retired his hunting boat and now takes tourists on dolphin watching trips. With it’s beautiful shrines, waterfalls, turquoise waters and incredible coast line, the juxtaposition of the horror of what happens here is difficult to grasp. I tried to capture both the beauty and the sadness of Taiji in this video:

This is my third trip here, and I know it won’t be my last. During this trip I experienced my first typhoon, which led to a very important lesson for me. For the first time in my life I had to live without clean water for several days. Living without access to water was an experience. I will never forget finding out there was no water in our hotel and going to the grocery store thinking I could buy some and then seeing all the shelves for water completely bare. Beyond drinking water, there was no water for the shower, sink, or toilet. It was an important lesson for me, and one I don’t think I could fully understand without having this experience. I will never take for granted the ability to take a shower, wash my hands or flush a toilet ever again. You truly appreciate the simple comforts in life. Yesterday I had my first ice cube in two weeks and I must say, it was a treat. When the owner of my hotel gave me a small bucket of ice, I felt like she was giving me a bucket of gold. I now understand water stress in a way in which I never could before. Over 1.1 billion people who share our planet live in water stress every day. I was lucky I only had to go through it for a few days. There is no better way to understand an issue than to live through it yourself.

I was scheduled to return to the USA a few days ago but I have extended my trip. Something changes in you when you come to Taiji. It started happening on my first trip here last year. It’s hard to leave because you begin to feel a responsibility to the dolphins, to make sure their lives their lives (and deaths) are recorded so that the world remembers them and hopefully change will come.

On a more personal note, I am also grateful for my husband, who arrived at our home today from New Zealand after six months away, and because I decided to stay here with the dolphins in Taiji, I wasn’t there to welcome him home. I’m so glad that he loves the dolphins as much as I do.